Department for Transport

Territorial Waters: Protection

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to conduct a review to ensure adequate monitoring and protection of the UK’s exclusive economic zone, territorial seas and coastline.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The monitoring and protection of UK waters is a priority for maritime security leads across Whitehall including the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and the Department. As part of this joined up, multilayered approach, the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) monitors UK waters using a range of maritime domain awareness technology such as sensors, radar and aerial surveillance. This capability, as well as the level of data and awareness it provides, is reviewed regularly by officials and Ministers.

Aviation: Coronavirus

Lord Bowness: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of unemployment rates in (1) aviation communities, and (2) communities dependant on industries associated with aviation, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; and what specific support they have made available to such communities.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department for Transport is committed to addressing the ongoing impact COVID-19 has had on the aviation sector. Aviation supported around half a million jobs across all regions of the UK before COVID-19, and since the start of the pandemic there have been tens of thousands of job cuts, mainly concentrated in the South East. Businesses across the industry have drawn on economy wide measures including the Covid Job Retention Scheme and Covid Corporate Finance Facility, and sector specific support such as the Airport and Ground Operators Support Scheme. We estimate that by the end of September 2021 the air transport sector will have benefited from around £7bn of Government support since the start of the pandemic, with an estimated 50% of air transport sector employees currently furloughed. Over £25bn has also been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks. The Government has extended business rates relief, introduced new Restart grants of up to £18,000, and has extended the cut in VAT for tourism and hospitality activities to 5% until the end of September.

Aviation: Coronavirus

Lord Bowness: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the social, and (2) the economic, impact of the restrictions on international travel introduced to address the COVID-19 pandemic on communities (1) directly dependant on aviation, and (2) dependant on manufacturing and suppliesassociated with the aviation industry.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government recognises the challenging circumstances facing the aviation industry because of Covid-19 and firms experiencing difficulties can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor.The Global Travel Taskforce report, published in April 2021, was created following extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders from the international travel and tourism industries to develop a risk-based framework that can facilitate the return of international travel while managing Variants of Concern.The taskforce considered a full range of views from industry stakeholders to inform the final recommendations and we are grateful for their valuable contributions to the development of the report’s recommendations. We will continue to draw on the latest and most robust evidence and analysis about the impact of Covid-19 as we look to facilitate the safe return of international travel whilst protecting public health.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

COE Countries

The Earl of Dundee: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of international partnerships between different cities andregionstowards (1) regional stability, and (2) local democracy, within regions and communities of Council of Europemember states.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK places great value on the role of the Council of Europe (CoE) in advancing work on human rights, democracy and the rule of law across Europe. International partnerships provide a significant contribution towards regional stability and local democracy and the UK Government welcomes such activity between communities. For example, since 2018, we have worked with local authorities to build partnerships between the UK and Italy focussed on sharing best practice on integration and supporting newly arrived migrants. In March 2019, the UK and French Governments brought together elected Leaders and Mayors from cities, towns and regions across our countries at the inaugural UK-France Mayors' summit in London. This initiative strengthened existing partnerships between towns and cities in France and the UK, and provided a platform for local leaders to share solutions to modern day challenges.

COE Countries

The Earl of Dundee: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their policy as chair of the Council of Europe to seek toboost grass roots democracy and political stability at local levels, what plans they have toencourage their international partners toestablish partnerships with different communities and areaswithin Council of Europe member states.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK places great value on the role of the Council of Europe (CoE) in advancing work on human rights, democracy and the rule of law across Europe. As set out in the Integrated Review our plans to encourage our international partners to establish partnerships with different communities and areas go much wider than the CoE member states. The UK will work with allies, including CoE member states and civil society worldwide, to protect democratic values as part of our force for good agenda. In many instances, this will involve working bilaterally with countries to strengthen their domestic governance. In doing so, the UK government will focus its efforts primarily in the wider European neighbourhood, East Africa and the Indo-Pacific, tailoring our approach to meet local needs and combining our diplomacy, development, trade, security and other tools accordingly. To promote robust democratic institutions, the UK will support strong, transparent and accountable political processes and institutions overseas (including parliaments and political parties) through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and other institutions. This work will be bolstered by a new UK capability to support election observation and activity to strengthen existing multilateral efforts.

Bahrain: Prisons

Lord Collins of Highbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on conditions in Bahrain's Jau prison; and whether they have verified the reports contained in the statement.

Lord Collins of Highbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by Her Majesty's British ambassador to Bahrain in relation to Bahrain's Jai prison; and whether they have verified the reports contained in the statement.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The FCDO considers a range of information regarding human rights in Bahrain, including statements by the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.The visit to Jau prison on 3 May enabled the UK Ambassador and other international representatives to see the facilities at Jau prison first hand, understand the Covid-19 measures implemented, and raise human rights matters directly.

South Sudan: Refugees

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the safety of ethnic minorities in refugee displacement camps in South Sudan following the withdrawal of peacekeepers from that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) continues to play a vital role in the protection of civilians across South Sudan, including minority groups, and there have been no recent changes to the mission's focus or numbers of peacekeepers authorised to be in country. The mission's mandate was renewed in March, with UK support, for another year.

Department for Work and Pensions

Kickstart Scheme

Baroness Wilcox of Newport: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Kickstart placements have been created with oil and gas companies; and which oil and gas companies such placements have been created with.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: Kickstart jobs are categorised into broad sectors when vacancies details are made available for work coaches to encourage young people to apply for them. The sector category relates to the job type, rather than the nature of the main activities undertaken by the employer. This means for example, that an administrative job within an oil company would be categorised as ‘administrative’, rather than ‘oil & gas’. A breakdown of jobs started and made available by sector, this could include any jobs with Oil and Gas employers, is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-05-20/hl457As of 20th May, almost 8,000 Kickstart Scheme applications from employers and Gateways (each representing a number of employers) had been approved. To establish which employers associated with the Oil and Gas industry have approved Kickstart jobs would require reviewing all these approved applications to consider the principal activities of each employer, this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.

Kickstart Scheme

Baroness Wilcox of Newport: To ask Her Majesty's Government in which sectors Kickstart placements have been created; and how many Kickstart placements have been (1) created, and (2) filled, in each sector.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: As of the 27th May 2021, over 133,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply for through the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Kickstart Scheme. This includes over 29,000 jobs started by young people.There have been over 219,000 jobs approved for funding through the scheme.The tables below show figures split by job sector (rather than the sector of the employer), the data has been rounded according to DWP statistical rounding convention. Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.  SectorJobs Made AvailableTotal Jobs StartedAdministration33,6307,480Animal Care600240Beauty & Wellbeing930230Business & Finance4,8301,000Computing, Technology & Digital10,0502,770Construction & Trades4,360990Creative & Media10,0403,070Delivery & Storage4,020870Emergency & Uniform Services32020Engineering & Maintenance4,740780Environment & Land2,500540Government Services31050Healthcare4,800800Home Services1,000120Hospitality & Food11,1401,760Law & Legal320110Managerial930170Manufacturing3,250800Retail & Sales21,7204,910Science & Research630130Social Care3,270400Sports & Leisure3,020640Teaching & Education5,7601,110Transport45060Travel & Tourism50080Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started. Total jobs started includes those which have been completed or ended early.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fishing Vessels: Northern Ireland

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether fishing boats based in Northern Ireland have received licences to fish in Irish waters since January 2021; and whether the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland has caused any delay to such licences being issued.

Lord Benyon: The Marine Management Organisation have shared data with the Commission on Northern Ireland vessels wishing to fish in Republic of Ireland waters and is currently waiting for their response. As yet, no Northern Ireland vessels have received licences to fish in the Irish 0-6nm zone. We do not have any reason to believe that the Northern Ireland Protocol has had an effect on the issuing of licences.

Treasury

Small Businesses: Labour Turnover

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist small businesses staff retention rates.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: In order to support businesses, including small businesses, to retain their employees and protect the UK economy, at the Budget the Chancellor extended both the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until September 2021. Moreover, the Government is also providing support to small businesses through other schemes that reduce their fixed costs and increase certainty, supporting them in retaining staff through the pandemic and the reopening of the economy. For example, in England, about a million business properties received over £11.6 billion worth of grants through the Small Business Grant Fund, the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund, and the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund. These schemes provided support to small businesses in some of the sectors hit hardest by COVID-19, with applications accepted between March and August 2020. Local authorities are also receiving over £2 billion of funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), providing local councils with grant funding to support businesses that do not directly pay business rates as well as businesses that do not have to close but which are affected by COVID-19 restrictions, such as small businesses in their communities. At the 2020 Summer Economic Update, the Government introduced the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Rebate Scheme to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who may face abnormally large SSP costs caused by COVID-19 related staff absences. This refund will cover up to two weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because they have been ill with COVID-19 or have had to self-isolate because of it and are unable to work from home. At Spring Budget 2021 the Government temporarily extended this measure. Moreover, eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will benefit from business rates relief worth over £6 billion in 2021-22. The Government is also providing a Restart Grant of up to £18,000 to over 680,000 business premises, giving them the cash certainty they need to plan ahead and relaunch trading safely over the coming months.

Personal Pensions

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 29 April (HL15257), when they expect the Financial Conduct Authority to provide a response about the (1) value, and (2) service, provided by UK pension providers to holders of UK Self-Invested Personal Pensions.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: Information on the value and service provided to holders of Self-Invested Personal Pensions has now been provided by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the form of a letter and a copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House. The FCA apologise for the delay in their response.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Music: Coronavirus

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara: To ask Her Majesty's Government why non-professional music activity in England has not been permitted to resume indoors without limits on numbers.

Baroness Barran: Non-professional activities are permitted indoors within the legal gathering limits in a group of up to 6 people, or as a group of 2 households/bubbles. Activities can take place with multiple permitted groups, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity, and the event is organised in line with the organised events guidance for local authorities. However, non-professional singing indoors should only take place in a single group of up to 6 people. Activities should be organised to allow for social distancing to be maintained. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.